St Mark's School (Pakuranga)

The roll ERO recorded, and when

ERO writes a roll into each report it publishes: a count taken for that report, on the day shown, by the review team that was there. The Ministry of Education’s current roll for this school is 204 — the figure at the top of this page, and the one to use for how big the school is now. These are a different measurement by a different body, so they will rarely agree, and a difference between them is not a change in the school.

1. October 2018

   237

   Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 14 December 2018

2. May 2014

   237

   Counted while ERO’s review team was at the school. Education Review Office, report of 27 June 2014

We draw no line between these. Each was counted for its own report, years apart, by a different review team, and a roll moves between reviews for reasons none of these figures record — so the difference between any two of them measures nothing.

What ERO wrote in its latest report

This is ERO’s report of 16 September 2024 — “School Evaluation Report” — section by section, under ERO’s own headings, in ERO’s own order. Nothing is summarised, shortened or reordered.

School Evaluation Report

Tēnā koutou e mau manawa rahi ki te kaupapa e aro ake nei, ko te tamaiti te pūtake o te kaupapa. Mā wai rā e kawe, mā tātau katoa.

We acknowledge the collective effort, responsibility and commitment by all to ensure that the child remains at the heart of the matter.

Context

St Mark’s School ( Pakuranga ) in east Auckland provides education for learners in Years 1 to 6. The school’s mission is to provide a Christ-centred education based on the school’s ABCs: Aroha , Belief and Courage and 3Rs: Respect, Responsibility and Resilience .

There are two parts to this report.

Part A: An evaluative summary of learner success and school conditions to inform the school board’s future strategic direction, including any education in Rumaki /bilingual settings.

Part B: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle.

Part A: Current State

The following findings are to inform the school’s future priorities for improvement.

Learner Success and Wellbeing

Most learners are engaged, make good progress and achieve very well.

Most learners are working at or above the expected curriculum levels in mathematics and reading; the large majority are working at or above the expected curriculum levels in writing.

Māori students’ achievement levels are almost to the same high levels as other learners; the school has yet to address some disparity for Pacific learners.

The achievement levels of learners with specific learning needs are closely monitored and targeted support is provided; these learners make accelerated progress.

The school is very close to meeting the Ministry of Education’s target for regular attendance; staff work closely with a small group of parents to address issues of non-attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

Strategic and effective leadership drives the vision and values to be part of everyday school life.

Clear, cohesive strategic and annual planning and achievement targets for learners are developed and monitored to ensure learners meet goals relevant to them.

Leaders ensure that professional development for teachers is developed in alignment with strategic priorities and learner needs; teachers are supported to continually develop their practice.

Leadership sustains high levels of relational trust and effective collaboration across the school community, facilitating strong learning partnerships with families to improve outcomes for learners.

Learners have a curriculum that is increasingly localised, engaging and relevant.

The classroom learning culture is well-established and consistently characterised by respect, inclusion, and empathy to support engagement.

Teachers carefully design learning using well-structured, purposeful activities focused on supporting learners to gain sound foundational skills, including reading, writing and mathematics.

Teachers effectively use appropriate assessment information to design and deliver classroom programmes that respond to learner strengths and needs.

Key conditions that support student success are increasingly embedded.

Leaders use detailed school-wide data analysis across year levels and learning areas to set new targets and plan improvement strategies.

Systematic approaches to wellbeing create an inclusive environment that is physically, emotionally and culturally sustaining for learners.

Parents and whānau work in partnership with the school to support their children’s success; they have regular opportunities to get achievement information and discuss goals and next steps.

Consistent reporting to the school board ensures resourcing decisions align to priorities that have been established with input from parents.

Part B: Where to next?

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

use a range of purposeful teaching strategies to accelerate progress and raise student achievement for identified Pacific and other learners who need support

continue to improve levels of regular attendance

further develop local contexts to build relevant and meaningful learning opportunities within the refreshing of The New Zealand Curriculum

enhance partnerships with hapū and iwi and strengthen the use of te reo Māori and te ao Māori across the school.

The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.

Every six months:

teachers and leaders will implement additional teaching strategies for learners who are not yet making sufficient progress towards expected achievement levels

leaders will continue to refine the approaches used to increase attendance

leaders and teachers will put into action its identified next steps in use of te reo Māori and inclusion of te ao Māori in the curriculum

Annually:

leaders and teachers will evaluate strategies that had the most impact on improving attendance and achievement outcomes and continue to refine the approaches used for accelerating outcomes

leaders will continue to work with the South East Christian Kāhui Ako to develop learning programmes that reflect local contexts and enhance the breadth and depth of learning.

Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:

improved student achievement outcomes for Māori , Pacific and other identified groups of learners

improved student attendance so all groups of learners attend regularly

delivery of the St Mark’s School curriculum that increasingly reflects local contexts in ways learners can see themselves, their identities and cultures

te reo Māori and te ao Māori woven through all aspects of the school’s curriculum and increased connections with hapū and iwi .

ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.

Me mahi tahi tonu tātau, kia whai oranga a tātau tamariki Let’s continue to work together for the greater good of all children

Shelley Booysen Director of Schools

16 September 2024

About the School

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home

Read this report on ero.govt.nz →